June 29, 2016

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The Future of Marketing is Extreme Complexity

by Tom De Baere

Are you in denial?

Marketing leaders in B2B and B2C are confronted with high customer expectations and a trend towards advanced technology that customers use during the buying process.

This is is turning marketing into an extremely complex discipline, providing challenges that need to be faced today. When is this complex future of marketing going to happen? Faster than you think…way faster…

In this blog series (this is the first post) I want to discuss:

the drivers for this extreme complexity, from a buyers perspective and from a marketers perspective;

what marketers can do to handle this extreme complexity

How People Buy in 2016

In this first part I want to explore the changing world of consumers and buyers in general. Some of the examples might seem futuristic, but they are actually in use today.

It’s important to understand how modern customers go about when buying products or services. Because this modern behavior is the source of the complexity that is entering the world of marketers.

Louder voices and new powers

It should not be a surprise to you that the way people buy today has changed. They literally found the start button that gives them access to much more power.

Today consumers and businesses have access to a massive amount of content, and new entrants that provide intelligence to consumers and businesses.

Social media, review sites, comparison sites and the “Yelpification” of buying in general, are informing customers better than ever, giving them new powers against brands.

This trend is set, and will continue to change the way businesses and consumers make decisions and buy ‘stuff’.

Instant gratification

Customers today have new expectations. This is because their world is full with new real-time communication apps like Whatsapp and others, instant buying buttons and video’s instantly playing in Twitter and Facebook, and increasingly faster logistics (Amazon Prime, Drones and even 3D printing).

Humans are hardwired to want things — now. It’s called instant gratification, and it’s a powerful force. It can make people convert, as long as you’re doing the right things.

Today, instant gratification is expected in many ways. We gain instant feedback from our devices, because we’re constantly plugged in and turned on. Social media gives us instant ability to upload videos, photos and status updates. We receive instant feedback from our social followers. We respond in near real time to emails and tweets. We have the ability to make things happen without having to wait.

These higher customer expectations are putting organizations under pressure to invest into:

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is now giving passengers the option to receive flight updates through Messenger, chat with customer services, and much more…

Future of Marketing – Trend towards software, bots & algorithms

More and more, software and algorithms are used to buy products and services. We do not always realize this as a consumer, but e-commerce websites that recommend products, or digital shopping assistants that predict our needs, are entering our world.

It starts with a simple search on Google, where Google gives search results and Google Merchant results. We have become so accustomed to Google doing this for us, but this simple search is already digitally supporting buyers. Recommendation engines from Amazon and Alibaba exist to support users in choosing the products they seek, want or need.

Mezi is a personal shopping bot, assistant and concierge. Simply ask for what you want to buy and let Mezi handle the research, present you with options, and help you order the perfect item. Every request is served by real life experts, aided by artificial intelligence.

Kik, one of North America’s most used chat apps has jumped on the bot wagon, by opening its doors to bots in the form of a bot store. The bot store resides inside its app, and they provide the tools to allow any developer or brand to create their own bot. I’ve tried it, and both functional as fun bots are available today in that bot store, and probably much more to come. Make sure to try out the bot from H&M.

Kik now has launched a bot store, where brands can create and launch their own bots.

You probably also have learned about Amazon Dash from Amazon:

Amazon Dash is a single, Wi-Fi enabled button that serves one purpose: to order a single, pre-programmed item from Amazon. It attaches to any surface, and for things like diapers and garbage bags, it’s a slight boost to efficiency for people looking to streamline everything.

Amazon seems to be planning something new under the umbrella of AmazonFresh (AmazonFresh is the retail concept of Amazon which brings groceries and fresh goods to your home). Under that umbrella, Amazon is now planning to launch what seems to be a voice commanded Amazon Dash button. By simply saying what you need, or scanning bar codes, you add items to your cart from anywhere in your home. I haven’t been able to find a lot about this new product, but it seems brand new. For now, I’m calling it Amazon Dash Echo ;-). If you have more about this new product, feel free to contact me.

Do we still need sales people ?

A lot has been written about sales people entering late to the party. It is true that buyers are more informed, and that sales people are only involved very late in the buying journey of B2C and B2B buyers.

At a certain moment the question arrises: do we even still need sales people? Forrester forecasts that 1 million US B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service eCommerce by the year 2020. Now that’s in B2B. Initially not all salespeople will be impacted equally, in which especially order takers are impacted the most. Because these people add little value.

But when machines and bot are going to take over an important part of the buying process, you can be sure this will have a serious impact on the role of salespeople. I have written a lot more about this subject in a previous blog post on the changing role of salespeople in a digital world.

The Tipping Points in the Future of Marketing

Frank Diana, principal at Tata Consultancy Services, has provided insight into future scenarios describing the complexity and impact of our emerging future, and the impact they have on the future business landscape.

In an interesting chart, he plotted a sequence of technologies which provide the foundation for future scenario’s. Frank Diana’s future scenario predictions deal with big world scenario’s like radical life extension, sharing economy, money 2.0, etc.

These subjects are a bit out of scope for this blog, but what you should remember from this chart is that many of these technologies are entering our world as we speak, ranging from 3D printing, renewable energy and internet of things.

You might think that many of these technologies will require years and years to become mainstream, if they even reach the so called “tipping point”.

In a very interesting “Six Megatrend” report (PDF) that came out of the World Economic Forum of September 2015. 800 executives where asked to respond for their perception of when these tipping points would occur for any of these technologies. The results are surprising: a significant number of shifts are expected to occuralready in the early years of the next decade.

About this blog

This blog is not about me. It is about modern marketing in todays digital world. It shares down to earth and practical tips on how to build marketing strategies, plan and execute them, as well as my own experiences on what I think differentiating marketing should be.

Opinions on this blog are mine.

About Tom De Baere

Everybody has a past, and everybody has experience. For me, my experience is 15 years in sales & marketing, in which I have developed a true passion for B2B marketing & communication.

Today I am managing partner in a company called Invisible Puppy, a digital agency specialized in helping companies to create marketing that people actually want.